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In the pouch strapped around my waist, my phone buzzed. I took it out, swiped away another bead of sweat running down my jaw, and smiled at the text from Ruby.
6:25 PM
Ruby:So, I’m at Cloud 9 (that really cool club downtown I told you about and still couldn’t get you to come to) *sigh* and I swear, I’m looking at the sexiest man alive right now.
I laughed and fixed my eyes on the screen to respond to her. Rapidly, my fingers flew across the keyboard.
6:27 PM
Me: Ru, I’m pretty sure that’s not the sexiest man alive. And even if he is, there are more important things to face in the real world than men and how chiseled their jaws are.
I clickedsend,and the bubbles popped up almost immediately. Her message flew right in barely a second later.
6:27 PM
Ruby:Says the crime-fighting boss bitch. YOU have real world shit to take care of. I’ll deal with the hunk. And you’re only saying that because you haven’t SEEN him— Oh, my God, Freya. I’ve got to go now. He’s coming this way. Text you later.
I snickered and slid the phone back into the pouch.
At leastoneof us was having fun. I had nothing else to do except hit the gym after work, go home to munch on a full bowl of Nutella-stuffed chocolate cookies, sleep, and prepare to go back to work early the following morning.
Such an exciting life I lived.
I hastened my pace, going past the eighth block.
My house was only ten blocks from the gym, but I thought I’d be faster if I plugged in another of the new songs I’d sighted on John’s audio playlist. I didn’t bother to note the artist’s name, but the mashup of the lyrics and beat coursed through my veins like a stimulant.
I spotted my house behind the line of trees and slowed down. Another jog past the trees, a few white low-iron fences, and my neighbor’s barking dog, and I was home.
I got to my doorstep, and the motion sensor light on the porch came on. Bending forward, I propped my hands on my knees to catch my breath. Sweat rolled down my back and arms and dripped from my forehead to the wooden floor.
God, I couldn’t wait to take a shower.
I started to raise my head, and that’s when I spotted it: the slight space between the door and its frame. It was just barely ajar. In fact, the space was so minimal that I might have missed it if I hadn’t looked closer.
The muscles in my body tensed, and all the warning alarms in my head went off. Someone had broken in, and I had to make sure they weren’t still hovering around the area.
Slowly, my hand went to the pouch on my waist, clutching the phone, and with my eyes trained on the door, I took a step back.
My back hit something solid, like fabric draped on a wall. The only difference was that this wall had a beating heart and wore expensive cologne. I felt his body heat seep through the thin fabric of my sports bra and leggings and the cold metal digging into my skin at the small of my back.
A gun.
My breath hitched in my throat, and the adrenaline that had earlier pumped into my veins had morphed into something else. Panic, maybe.Even if I’m never going to admit that in a million years.
Shit.
I was defenseless. This sucker couldn’t have chosen a better time to get me.
I gritted my teeth, heat curling in my stomach. How could I have been so susceptible?
“Look,” I started, speaking lowly, “if you came here looking for money, you aren’t going to find anything, okay? So, I suggest you turn around and head home.”
“And I suggest you shut up, girlie.” The gun traveled deeper to the base of my spine, and his breath fanned my ear, his voice hard. “If I needed money, I’d form some shitty story about a dying grandma with no hope of getting life support on GoFundMe. Now, fucking move. Open the door and go in. Don’t make me use the gun.”
This should have been that part where I pulled a sick stunt and spiraled my way out of there, but the more rational part of my instinct, the part that actually cared about living a few more years longer, reminded me that this intruder had a gun. I wouldn’t make it very far.
Reluctantly, I moved forward like cinder blocks were tied to my feet. The man shoved me into the living room, and the breath left my lungs.
